Author Topic: Coolant flush advice, please  (Read 14762 times)

Offline Charliedog

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Coolant flush advice, please
« on: August 05, 2011, 02:50:06 PM »
I bought my 2000 Connie with less than 15,000 miles on it.  It now has over 52,000 miles on it, and I'm looking at changing the coolant.  I looked in the service manual and stopped after I read: Remove the exhaust.  Aw, come on!  I've adjusted the valves more than once, synched the carbs, changed the rear diff fluid as well as the brake and clutch fluid, but this is too much.  Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

CharlieDog
Bristol, TN

Offline Karl

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2011, 03:12:08 PM »
There is a drain bolt in the metal coolant (39192) line close to the pump.  It seems to be about the lowest point in the system.  With the belly pan off, easy to reach.

Good luck to ye.
"did you check them points?"

Offline Strawboss

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2011, 03:15:34 PM »
Yeah, theres a coolant drain plug on the lower left of the engine. Can't remember if its on the water pump or a pipe. Anyway, somebody will fill you in better than I can, its one of those things I can't explain but I can point to it. Take off the cap, open the plug, drain it out. Theres also a vent fitting on top of the motor to "burp" when filling the coolant. Sorry, thats the best I can do off the top of my head and no manual to look at.
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Offline Karl

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2011, 03:24:43 PM »
For what its worth.
I recently did a modification to my cooling system, had occasion to take pictures.    This is the drain plug in question.
The vent bolt in the pump is to burp the air that may be there to prevent cavitation.
In my humble opinion, the cooling system on the C-10 is a bit too complicated but it has worked ok for me for a long time.

Good luck to ye.
"did you check them points?"

Offline bbroj

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2011, 06:57:31 PM »
I found and read a coolant drain/flush procedure, but I think it was "pre-crash". Basically, drain from the bolt shown above, fill with distilled water, run to operating temp, drain again and fill with your preferred concoction of coolant blend. Keep in mind, there may be a few ounces of water or significantly diluted coolant left in the system, the affect on proportions should be minimal. I used 50/50 distilled water and the recommended amount (4 oz?) of Watter Wetter.
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Offline Boomer343

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2011, 09:12:50 PM »
Take the fuel tank off and the lower tray. Take off the rad cap and take out the drain bolt as shown in above post. Will be a slow drain so I have put a rag around the rad cap and shot a little compressed air in to help. Note a loose rag, low pressure used. There is a bleed hole on the water pump, don't lose the gasket and a bled bolt on the thermostat, don't lose the gasket.

Once bleed refill with your mixture of choice, since I have Toyotas I refill with their antifreeze but that is a different thread.

I fill until product runs out of A: the water pump bleed hole, won't take long.....then replace that bleed bolt. Continue to fill until product comes out the thermostat bleed hole....replace that bolt.....you did keep the washer handy didn't you? Correction....it is a bleeder at the thermostat and not a bolt with washer.... Continue to fill until the rad is full. Dump the coolant bottle and refill to the proper line. Check the line from the neck of the rad to the bottle, fill it with fluid. Put the cap on and warm her up looking for leaks.

Couple of things....it helps to have someone pouring in the coolant when the bleed holes are open so you can put the bolts in. Antifreeze stinks when it burns off the pipes so a little fresh water rinse is good before starting the engine. Lastly you will be impressed with the mess you have made......no one else will be but that's OK
« Last Edit: August 11, 2011, 12:02:06 PM by Boomer343 »

Offline Charliedog

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2011, 10:29:46 AM »
Thanks for all the helpful advice, especially Boomer.  That will be a project for me someday 'next week'.  I'll let you all know hgow it turns out.
CharlieDog
Bristol, TN

Offline Pecker

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2011, 09:33:49 PM »
..."Continue to fill until product comes out the thermostat bleed hole...."

sorry if this sounds silly, but where is the thermostat bleed hole?
"If it's sloppy, eat it over the sink"

Offline Boomer343

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2011, 12:00:31 PM »
Bleeder is right hand side in the thermostat body, ie lower than the thermostat. Parts fiche of the radiator will show it. It appears as a bleeder and not a bolt with washer as I stated above. There is also a pipe plug in the thermostat body that could be used as a bleed hole.


Offline Karl

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2011, 01:58:57 PM »
Hello Pecker,

As Boomer said, its a bleeder.   See photo.   I recently had occasion  to drain a little coolant so i could install an alum adapter for temperature probe, in the rubber hose, just downstream of the original thermostat housing.  This will explain the text on my photo. 
I had recently flushed the system, didnt want to drain it all out so i attached a plastic tube to the bleeder and drained off some coolant, down below the level necessary to cut into the rubber hose.

(this was before i got my new block-off plates for the cam cover)

Side note;  be careful with the coolant logs, thermostat housing etc..  When the  rubber o-rings get old, they are prone to leaking, especially if you wrestle around with them.
"did you check them points?"

Offline Pecker

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2011, 06:07:14 PM »
Hello Pecker,

As Boomer said, its a bleeder.   See photo.   I recently had occasion  to drain a little coolant so i could install an alum adapter for temperature probe, in the rubber hose, just downstream of the original thermostat housing.  This will explain the text on my photo. 
I had recently flushed the system, didnt want to drain it all out so i attached a plastic tube to the bleeder and drained off some coolant, down below the level necessary to cut into the rubber hose.

(this was before i got my new block-off plates for the cam cover)

Side note;  be careful with the coolant logs, thermostat housing etc..  When the  rubber o-rings get old, they are prone to leaking, especially if you wrestle around with them.


thanks! I found it last night right after I posted that.....helps to look before asking. Nice pic. DANG yours is CLEEEEEEANN! I've got a bubble somewhere in the cooling system that won't burp out...even using both the water pump and now the tstat bleeders....on the upside, my username is cracking me up....I've got a pathetic grade school sense of humor I know.
"If it's sloppy, eat it over the sink"

Offline timsatx

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2011, 07:13:55 AM »
Hopefully your temperature gauge works. I have yet to get mine working. Oh, it moves just a tad but since I have owned it the gauge has only worked a couple of times. I purchased a second sensors and tested them both. They should have both been okay but it still did not work. I did a flush and have done a burp a couple of times but it just doesn't work. Drives me crazy just a bit. As long as the fan works though that is what counts.

Offline Outback_Jon

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2011, 07:45:04 AM »
Hopefully your temperature gauge works. I have yet to get mine working. Oh, it moves just a tad but since I have owned it the gauge has only worked a couple of times. I purchased a second sensors and tested them both. They should have both been okay but it still did not work. I did a flush and have done a burp a couple of times but it just doesn't work. Drives me crazy just a bit. As long as the fan works though that is what counts.

I read somewhere on this forum (don't remember if it was pre- or post-crash) someone finding that the connections on the back of their gauge were corroded, and cleaning them fixed the problem.
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Offline MAN OF BLUES

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2011, 02:15:28 PM »
......
I fill until product runs out of A: the water pump bleed hole, won't take long.....then replace that bleed bolt. Continue to fill until product comes out the thermostat bleed hole....replace that bolt.....you did keep the washer handy didn't you? Correction....it is a bleeder at the thermostat and not a bolt with washer.... Continue to fill until the rad is full. Dump the coolant bottle and refill to the proper line. Check the line from the neck of the rad to the bottle, fill it with fluid. Put the cap on and warm her up looking for leaks.

Couple of things....it helps to have someone pouring in the coolant when the bleed holes are open so you can put the bolts in. Antifreeze stinks when it burns off the pipes so a little fresh water rinse is good before starting the engine. Lastly you will be impressed with the mess you have made......no one else will be but that's OK

to simplify, and assist in a bit cleaner method, fill the radiator with 50/50, with all the bolts tight and don't try it without the bolt....it will just pour out.
onces the system (radiator) is filled, simply loosen the upper forward water pump bolt with rag in hand, don't remove the bolt, just loosen it a touch, coolant will immediatly purge as it has a head pressure on it now. Tighten the bolt and that bottom end is purged. add a dash to fill the rad till it's full, attach a hose to the bleeder on the thermo housing, and the other end in the filler neck, start the bike while holding the radiator cap, and keep an eye on the level, it will dip when the thermo begins to open, at that point open the bleeder and observe the bubbles and coolant flow from the bleeder, it will be very quick to occur. Lock the bleeder down, and be prepared to cap the radiator fast before turning the bike off. This works best. believe me. ;)

upper bolt on the left:

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Offline Boomer343

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2011, 04:17:14 PM »
Hey M of B it's no fun if you don't end up with a mess! My experience has been to have the bolt or drain open as the coolant is added so that there is less chance of trapped air. Until I started using a vacuum refill method on all vehicles and not just on the diesels we serviced that was what worked best for me.

BTW I asked my wife if she would like to add anything and she said no.....LOL.

Offline MAN OF BLUES

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2011, 06:48:24 PM »
Hey M of B it's no fun if you don't end up with a mess!..........BTW I asked my wife if she would like to add anything and she said no.....LOL.

heheheheheheheh
 :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :chugbeer: :thumbs: :deadhorse: :rotflmao:
good job!!!!
heaven help us, we may get the thread locked....... ;)

only thing i worry about ain't the mess, it's loosing one of my barn cats and not finding the carcass before it starts to smell..... :'(

(your wife can add whatever she wants, I'm sure she doesn't think i'm a pitiful, miserable, old man..... ;)

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Offline T Cro ®

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2011, 07:40:18 PM »
heheheheheheheh
 :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :chugbeer: :thumbs: :deadhorse: :rotflmao:
good job!!!!
heaven help us, we may get the thread locked....... ;)

only thing i worry about ain't the mess, it's loosing one of my barn cats and not finding the carcass before it starts to smell..... :'(

(your wife can add whatever she wants, I'm sure she doesn't think i'm a pitiful, miserable, old man..... ;)

Maybe she already knows......  :stirpot:
Tony P. Crochet
(SOLD) 01 Concours Winner of COG Most Modified in 2010

Offline Karl

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2011, 04:39:40 PM »
Thread hi-jack warning.

Timsatx, 

 My original temp gauge works fine, but i wanted to know more definitively what the needle was telling me, so,  I added a digital instrument.       I checked the calibration before i installed it with a known/accurate meter that i borrowed.
This uses a 26 mm aluminum fitting, installed just downstream from the original t-stat housing.   I made a small/lightweight alum bracket to hold the instrument, just in front of the ign key area.   
Now i have the numbers to go along with the needle indications on the o.e. temp gauge.

"did you check them points?"

Offline Karl

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #18 on: August 15, 2011, 04:44:07 PM »
So Timsatx,  The point of this post is that if your gauge is crapped out, there are other/easy options. 

Just throwing out different options.

good luck to ye.
"did you check them points?"

Offline timsatx

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Re: Coolant flush advice, please
« Reply #19 on: August 17, 2011, 11:57:50 AM »
Thanks, that is an interesting idea.I wonder if there is a way to measure the signal at the gauge to see if I can see if it is getting the signal?

I will think about an additional meter but I would like to verify that I am getting the signal I should have.